Mina Ashido: Ultimate Matchmaker
by Lionheart261
Summary: The evidence is irrefutable: Ochaco Uraraka has a crush. The other girls are content not to pry, but not Mina Ashido-especially since she believes she's deduced who Ochaco is pining for. In the midst of navigating the rigors of U.A.'s Hero Course, Mina is determined to find out if Ochaco's crush feels the same way, and if so, to bring them together, as romantically as possible.
1. Chapter 1

"Uggghhh!"

Mina Ashido practically collapsed into the couch of the U.A. dorm room's common area, still sweating profusely from the latest day of training for their Provisional Hero License Examination. The other girls of Class 1-A of the U.A. Hero Course looked over to her with some slight concern.

"Everything okay there, Mina?" Toru Hagakure asked. In her case, her concern had to be inferred from her voice alone.

"Bwagggh! They're working us to the bone every day!" she groaned, her limbs still in pain from her overusing her Acid Quirk.

"Well, that's why they call it 'accelerated training,'" Hagakure responded, her logic only seeming to further irritate the pink girl.

"And we only have one more week," Momo Yaoyorozu added, her tone somewhat stern, as if to remind the other girls not to slack off.

"Oh, yeah! How are your ultimate moves coming along, Momo Yao?" Toru asked.

"Well, I have ideas, but my body isn't quite there yet. I need to focus on improving my Quirk's efficiency first," she replied, the slight pang of her stomach reminded her all too clearly of her Quirk's limitations.

"How about you, Tsuyu?"

"I've mostly been working on improving my more Frog-like abilities," Tsuyu Asui replied in her typical frog-like accent. "They'll be sure to surprise even you."

The other girls couldn't tell, but Toru was cocking her head in curiosity, with a hint of excitement. " _Even me, huh? Is she saying she can go invisible now?! That's so cool!"_

"And you, Ochaco?"

After she failed to respond for several seconds, Tsuyu repeated her question, poking her arm and causing Ochaco Uraraka to spit out her drink in surprise with a shriek.

"Uh, you okay, Ochaco? You seem wiped out," Toru remarked.

"Huh?! Uh, no, no, I'm fine! Raring to go!" She replied, perhaps too enthusiastically to a few of her classmates. After a moment, however, she let out a sigh. "At least, I think so, anyway. Seems like my mind's been all over the place lately."

To the other girls in the room, all they could think to do was offer to hear her out, assuming she was ready to talk about whatever was bothering her. However, Mina, in a moment of pure excitement, blurted out what she believed was the only possible answer to Ochaco's dilemma.

" **It's love** ," she said, with an expression of muted excitement all over her face.

And watched as Ochaco practically shut down right before her eyes.

Her cheeks became flushed to the point where her entire face seemed to have shifted to a light red pigmentation, her entire body began sweating even harder than Mina had been moments before, and her expression shifted into one of pure anxiety and terror as she leapt into a panicked frenzy.

"What?! Dove?! I've never seen one! Not me!" she cried out, vainly attempting to pretend she misheard her as she frantically waved her arms around. Meanwhile, Mina, too caught up in the moment, began to relentlessly question her flustered friend.

"Is it Midoriya?! Iida?! You're always hanging around those two!"

"No no no no no no no no noooo!" she muttered as she activated her Zero Gravity Quirk on herself, floating up towards the window and out of her classmates' reach. However, this did nothing to alleviate Mina's tirade, assisted now by an almost as enthusiastic Toru.

"Come on, tell us!"

"The truth will set you free!"

"Seriously, that isn't...oh, I don't know..." Ochaco muttered softly, now floating upside down directly in front of the window.

"Yo, guys, **chill** ," Kyoka Jirou interjected, placing a hand on Mina's shoulder and attempting to sit her back down into the couch.

"There's no sense in pressuring her if she isn't ready," Tsuyu remarked in her usual blunt fashion.

"Agreed!" Momo added. "We've got a long day tomorrow, so the best course of action is to turn in immediately!" Kyoka and Tsuyu nodded in agreement. Mina, however, pouted and waved her arms around angrily.

"What?! No way! I still gotta know! Try changing the subject, and I'll just flip it back to romance!" she shot back indignantly.

"Yeah!" Toru added.

"Come on, guys, do you really want to try and get through another day of training on six hours' sleep?" Kyoka asked.

"I won't be able to sleep **at all** until I know the truth!" Mina replied defiantly. No sooner had she said this, however, than she noticed something in the corner of her peripheral vision: Ochaco's cheeks growing considerably more red as she glanced out the window. She mentally filed the observation for later use as she prepared to continue the argument.

Kyoka considered arguing her point for a bit longer, but ultimately shrugged her shoulders in acceptance.

"Alright, it's your funeral. Come on, guys, let's go hit the hay."

Tsuyu and Kyoka began to make their way towards their rooms. Momo, easily being the tallest among the girls, reached up to grab Ochaco by the waist, gently pulling her along towards their rooms until she at last regained the presence of mind to stop floating. After Momo helped her back down onto the floor, she staggered slightly as a wave of nausea hit her, a side effect of her Quirk. However, she nevertheless followed the Class Vice-President to their dorm rooms, grateful that the conversation was over, until only Mina and Toru remained.

Toru sighed as she flopped onto the couch. "Awww. It isn't as fun to speculate with just two people."

"Yeah," Mina admitted, turning over what she knew in her head. Without realizing it, her eyes began to droop slightly. Toru noticed this, and raised an invisible eyebrow.

"You sure you meant what you said about not falling asleep until you knew the truth? Cuz, uh..." the right shoulder of her top creased slightly, the only indication at all that she was even moving her arm. Mina guessed that she was pointing towards her eyes.

Mina at first prepared a retort, but what came out was an incredibly yawny comeback. Mina paused for a few seconds before admitting, "...Okay so maybe they were onto something."

Toru chuckled.

"But I still want to know!"

"Yeah, yeah, same here," Toru replied earnestly. "So, where do we start?"

Mina put her finger to her chin in contemplation. "Well, she always hangs out with Iida and Midoriya..."

"And Todoroki," Toru interjected. "I've seen them talk a bit, ever since his fight with Midoriya at the Sports Festival."

"Hm...he **is** pretty cute..." Mina mused. "Of course, it might be somebody we haven't even seen her hang out with that much."

"Like who?"

"I dunno. Who else seems like her type?"

"Hm..." Toru considered the question. "Sero's pretty nice, and funny to boot."

"Yeah...kinda plain looking, though."

"What about Kirishima?"

Mina thought it over. "Think they've talked occasionally, and she **does** seem like she'd be really into manly men. Although, then again, he's also a bit...intense."

"Well, yeah, but so's Midoriya sometimes-the Sports Festival was evidence enough of that-and they hang out all the time!"

"True..."

Toru thought some more before speaking again. "Koda?"

"Oooh!" Mina replied, somewhat excited by the prospect. "They could be really cute!"

"Although, they don't talk much, but to be fair, Koda doesn't really talk to anyone. Except for animals."

"Ah, right?" Mina replied, chuckling. "One time I saw him talking to some guy's puppy outside of the school gate-it was adorable!"

"Plus, for some reason, ever since finals, he's been really nice to bugs," Toru added.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Dunno why-maybe it had something to do with the Final Exam?"

"Maybe," Mina mused. "...Come to think of it, I wonder if he has a thing for Jirou?"

"You know, I don't honestly know! He's still so quiet and reserved..." Toru replied.

"Yeah..." Mina considered the question for another minute before shaking her head. "Hang on, we're getting sidetracked!"

"Ah, right! Sorry," Toru said somewhat sheepishly.

"Nah, nah, it's my fault, really."

"So, Ochaco?"

"Right! Ochaco! Yes! Who...does...Ochaco...like?" Mina said, taking a few steps around the common area as she focused on the task at hand. However, no sooner had she done this than her gaze was drawn to the window, as a slight blur of light green came across her vision. Walking up to the window and looking down revealed what she had initially assumed was there: Izuku Midoriya, sweating from exertion yet nevertheless happy that he'd finally managed to successfully get the hang of one of the moves Iida had taught him for his new Shoot Style.

"Uh, Earth to Mina?" Toru called out. "Who else could it be?" " _Could_ she _have a secret crush too?"_ a part of her thought idly as she awaited a response.

Thinking back to what she had observed during their earlier exchange, Mina's lips curled up into a satisfied smirk.

"Who else could it be, indeed?" she said to herself, already beginning to come up with a plan.

* * *

Annnd done! Not too long-barely under 1500 words-but then again, this is just setting the scene.

Truth be told, I was apprehensive about posting this one, even though it's been bouncing around for a while, for two reasons. First is the series: My Hero Academia, within which my last fic on the subject about Class B's finals was...less than well received. Could've just been the particular subject matter, or maybe the subject matter didn't match well with the genre, maybe I should've tagged different characters-whatever the reason, the response spoke for itself. So, I was worried that any subsequent ideas I put to keyboard in this fandom(of which I have had no shortage) may be equally lambasted. Second reason is the genre: although I have tried to slowly build up one or two ships in some of my other works, I haven't attempted anything in the Romance genre since my SU fanfic Salt and Spice, my first fanfic...and the first one to die an ignominious death. So, as you can imagine, my outlook on this wasn't too great.

But nevertheless, it's done, and it's out, and hopefully it isn't too bad for a starting chapter. Subsequent chapters may see a slight deviation from canon as the story is told, but all in all, the general outline should remain the same. Idk if I'm really gonna have much of a set schedule for this one, though. I'll play it by ear.

Until then, as always, let me know what you think through reviews, and where you believe that I could improve. Thank you all for reading, have a fantastic night, and take care.


	2. Chapter 2

After Mina clarified her suspicions and dealt with Toru's evident enthusiasm towards the subject, the pair of them hammered out a basic plan, with room to add additional steps or smaller goals in between each point. Toru took the liberty of writing them down, her handwriting being significantly neater.

Step 1: Determine where Midoriya stands.

Step 2: If Step 1 confirms mutual crush, devise strategy to ensure that contact is increased exponentially! (Additional individuals must be discouraged whenever possible)

Step 3: After some time has passed, set them up! (Ideally, go out and convince one to ask the other out; barring that, arrange for group to 'hang out' but suddenly cancel).

Step 4: Let nature take its course(with perhaps the occasional nudge)

This basic strategy agreed upon by the two girls, Toru proceeded to tuck it into her pocket as she wished Mina goodnight. After sparing one last glance at the window, Mina followed suit, giggling softly to herself as she entered the elevator.

* * *

Mina arrived to class two minutes behind Toru, who had already sat down and began carefully observing Izuku and Ochaco, the former attempting to make casual conversation while the latter blushed ever so slightly and hurried to her seat, leaving him to look after her in confusion before sighing and turning towards the front of the room in anticipation of their homeroom teacher's arrival.

" _Oh, he is just_ completely _oblivious_ ," Toru thought to herself with a chuckle. She stole a glance at Mina, who was idly following the pair of them as well in the midst of talking with her usual friend group-Denki Kaminari, Hanta Sero, and Eijiro Kirishima. No more could she think on this particular issue than Class 1-A's homeroom teacher, Shoto Aizawa, made his presence known as only he could: casually walking in and immediately getting down to business so that he can rest his eyes as soon as possible. After glaring at everyone for a split second to ensure that no one was using their Quirks, he sat down at his desk.

"Alright, first and foremost, after discussing the matter with Vlad, Classes A and B have agreed to swap assigned training periods in Gym Gamma for the rest of the week. This means that you'll be expected to report there no earlier than 3:00 p.m., rather than our usual 12:00 p.m. start time. Don't be late." The students quickly nodded before he continued. "In addition, don't forget: the deadline for costume mods to be used in the examination is 3 days before the date. Please have any requisite applications completed no later than 5:00 p.m. on that date. The Support department will not accept applications beyond that time." Aizawa sighed lazily as he began to fill out the daily attendance form. Meanwhile, the students thought over what he had told them, but most were generally unconcerned-after all, everyone who'd wanted a costume mod had either already submitted their application and gotten it approved, or had their dreams crushed by Power Loader, the head of the Support department. Toru grumbled as she considered her own application, which had been swiftly denied.

"'Toru, we can't make a costume we can't see'-please! If I can see it just fine, then surely there's some technological gizmo that'll let you guys see it too! I mean, is a hair-woven costume even that hard to do? All I want is to be able to use my frickin' powers without being naked all the time! Is that too much to ask?!"

"You okay there, Hagakure?" Todoroki asked calmly, causing her to jump slightly.

"Huh? Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Just...a little ticked about my costume mod being rejected, that's all."

"Hm," he replied simply before turning back to whatever he was doing before. Toru glanced back at him before facing forwards once more.

" _Can never read that guy,"_ she mused to herself before sighing slightly. " _Still pretty cute, though."_

* * *

Mina stretched her arms while standing on one of Cementoss' many cement pillars which he had reconstructed for Class 1-A's training. Across from her, Momo stood, preparing her ultimate move. After taking a deep breath, a small pouch began to emerge before falling onto the ground. Picking it up, she carefully untucked its contents.

"Hm...yes, it's all here and accounted for," she mused. "Golf ball, marble, steel ball, and three different varieties of rocks."

Mina looked on, somewhat confused. "Hang on, what's this ultimate move supposed to be again?" she called out.

"My tentative name for it is 'Lucky Bag,'" Momo replied. "Pouches like these were one of the first creations I learned to make, so I figured that its utility could be expanded upon by serving as a storage unit for a variety of essential items that could be launched out to teammates through a cannon of some sort."

"Ah...smart!" Mina replied encouragingly, causing Momo to blush slightly.

"Thank you. Unfortunately, at present, I have had some slight difficulty regarding the size and material of the pouch. If it isn't designed just right, the cannon could blow it apart."

"Not to mention, making a giant cannon like that, with how your costume is designed..." she let the sentence hang awkwardly, still not entirely sold on that aspect of Momo's power.

Momo simply shrugged. "We all must make sacrifices to improve the effectiveness of our Quirks."

"I mean, I guess? Still kinda...weird."

"In any event...?" Momo said, allowing it to hang as Mina picked up the hint.

"Ah! Right!"

" _Okay...just focus on making it extra viscous, while maintaining the solubility, and..."_

"ACID VEIL!" Mina cried out, spewing forth a wall of some of her strongest acid solution directly in front of her. By greatly increasing the viscosity, the acid wall became considerably less runny, allowing it to stay up on its own for a brief interval before gravity naturally sent it into the cement ground below her feet. Without another word, Momo picked out each of the bag's contents and chucked it at the wall of acid, watching as each one was practically absorbed as it dissolved away into the viscous solution.

"Alright!" Mina cried out in satisfaction, relieved that her ultimate move had finally begun to work properly. Momo simply smiled as she took in the content expression on Mina's face. Before they could resume their training session, a slight glare caught Mina's attention, and she looked over to an adjacent pillar to find Tokoyami struggling to maintain his own ultimate move in the face of Toru's Light Refraction.

"Hnnng-! Stay with me, Dark Shadow!" he implored as the entity seemed to hold onto his body for dear life in the face of the repeated flashes. Eventually, he pushed through the pain with a roar of defiance and knocked Toru off her feet.

"Ow!" she said as she hit the ground. After a few seconds of muttering something about Dark Shadow and trucks, she dusted herself off and reentered into her combat stance, preparing for another round of attempting to subdue Tokoyami's partner.

Mina smiled, happy that her friend was also making steady progress. Her gaze panned around the area at everyone else who seemed to be making improvements-Kaminari was practicing with his new projectile launcher, Ojiro was practicing techniques that could take advantage of his powerful tail, Aoyama was doing...something, as he shot out a naval laser into the sky. Eventually, her eyes came to rest on Izuku, still working on techniques to use with his Shoot Style and looking to have gotten significantly more agile. Problem was, Mina noticed, he didn't have too much in the way of actual targets-it looked more like he was miming combat maneuvers rather than actually hitting stuff with them. At this, a light bulb began flickering in Mina's head, before a loud cough brought her back into focus.

Momo had placed her hand on her shoulder, evidently having glanced around a bit herself, before noticing her pause and after a few initial attempts at getting her back on task failed. Momo jerked her head slightly to the left, in the direction of the pillar's center.

"Ah! Sorry, just...lost in thought for a second," Mina admitted.

"I noticed," was all Momo had to say in reply, and Mina blinked before taking a quick intake of breath.

"So! Back to target practice!"

"Indeed," Momo said in her usual tone, but Mina could detect the slightest trace of amusement across her features.

* * *

Hours later, once their training was actually over and done with, Mina was just about to reveal her idea to Toru when a stroke of luck occurred as Izuku conversed with Todoroki behind them.

"-odd that you'd practice combat maneuvers without some kind of sparring partner."

"Yeah, well, Kirishima had to call our sessions off to 'work on something else,' and it didn't look like anyone else really needed a sparring partner. And, you know, I didn't want to impose."

"Hm...perhaps a series of targets, then? Positioned at different heights and relative distances from each other around the environment."

"Ooh, that could work really well!" Izuku replied enthusiastically. "And it could help Uraraka with her Quirk, too! I should ask her if she'd be willing to do that!"

" _Hang on, what?"_ Mina and Toru both seemed to think in unison as they overheard the exchange, looking at each other as if to confirm neither of them imagined it. The two were silent before a subdued grin played out across their features. However, this excitement would prove to be short-lived.

"Come to think of it, Ojiro's been trying to improve his control over his tail movements," Todoroki added.

As Mina and Toru's eyes widened, Izuku replied, "Oh! I should see if he wants to give it a try!"

" _NO!"_ they thought as one. Although they didn't dislike Ojiro, having anyone between the prospective couple over what they were hoping was the rest of their training time was to be discouraged by any means available.

"I could create some additional footholds to accommodate various movement options," Momo added. "Or perhaps some varied targets-I have been wanting to practice making larger objects."

Todoroki nodded as he called over to Ojiro. "Hey. Midoriya was planning on doing some target practice. Want in?"

"No thanks," Ojiro replied, forcing Mina and Toru to smother a sigh of relief. "I'm focusing more on my ultimate moves than basic training."

"Gotcha."

Izuku called out, louder due to the increased distance. "Hey, Uraraka!"

Upon hearing his voice, Ochaco immediately tensed up slightly, to Toru's amusement,

before responding. "Yeah?" she said, evidently struggling to keep her voice within its normal register.

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to work with me on training tomorrow? Floating targets into the air so I can practice my aerial maneuvers?"

Ochaco hesitated, torn between whether or not she should come up with some excuse to preclude her involvement in this training session. Meanwhile, Mina wanted to grab her and shout, "TAKE HIM UP ON IT YOU ADORABLE FOOL!" at the top of her lungs, but she wisely kept her mouth shut and hoped her eyes did the sentiment justice. Paradoxically, Toru's approach ran along similar lines.

She glanced back, finding herself looking directly into Izuku's eyes, at which point he seemed to falter slightly.

"I-I mean, i-if you got other training planned out, then obviously that should-"

"N-no, it's fine!" she hurriedly reassured him. "T-that's basically what I was going to do anyway!"

"Oh...okay! Cool!" He replied, his excitement returning. "So, first thing at 3?"

"Yup!" she confirmed, trying to sound completely normal in spite of an intense feeling of having had the word physically forced out of her throat.

"Great! See you then!" he finished before some other boy-Sero or Shoji or someone, Mina couldn't quite tell-approached him with some cool new update about their own ultimate moves, leaving him captivated as the students entered the dorms.

"Yup!" she repeated again, considerably more nervous, but Izuku didn't seem to have noticed. While he made his way towards one corner of the common area, Ochaco seemed to want to get away from everyone and into her room as quickly as possible.

"Nauseous?" Toru asked politely, as if she'd only just noticed Ochaco's predicament.

"Yeah. Comes with the Quirk, you know, heh heh," she replied, faking a chuckle and clutching her stomach slightly.

"Let us know if you need anything!" Mina added. Ochaco ignored her and hurried up to her room. Mina and Toru glanced at the elevator, then each other, then the elevator again, before they spared one short giggling session between themselves when they were certain no one was in earshot.

* * *

" _Okay. You're okay,"_ Ochaco thought to herself as she walked into the gym after putting on her costume. " _Nothing's going on. You're just training. You can do this."_

"Hey, Uraraka!" Izuku called out, having just exited the changing area himself and wearing his trademark optimistic smile.

" _...You! Can! Do! This!"_ she forcefully repeated in her head, hoping to make it a reality through the power of thought. However, beads of sweat slowly began to form along her forehead, and she began blushing slightly.

"H-hey, Deku!" she replied as casually as she could manage. For a second, she could've sworn Izuku cocked his head slightly, but he quickly went back to the matter at hand.

"So, ready to get started?"

"Of course!" she replied, a bit more easily. " _Yeah, that's it. Focus on the work. Getting stronger. Plus Ultra! All that stuff!"_

After a few seconds of scanning the gym, Izuku finally selected a suitable location along the ground, and directed Ochaco towards it. They proceeded there in silence, with Ochaco struggling to come up with any decent conversational topics for some reason. Eventually, after mustering the courage, Ochaco spoke up.

"So!" she said, somewhat suddenly. "I heard you talking with somebody about their ultimate moves yesterday?"

"Hm?" Izuku turned the statement over in his head for a second. "Oh, yeah. Shoji was telling me about this technique called Octoblow, where he makes a bunch of duplicate arms to defend himself."

"Ah, cool! Like something from a Shonen anime, you know? Where they're punching the guy so fast it looks like they have a bunch of arms at once?"

"Ha ha, yeah! It kinda was, from how he described it," Izuku said, chuckling in a manner which easily proved infectious. Eventually, the two fell silent once more. "Everyone really is putting their all into these ultimate moves, huh?"

"Yeah..." Ochaco said with a smile, blushing involuntarily. "So how about you?" When he didn't reply for a second, she hastily added. "I-I mean, I know you've got the whole Shoot Style thing, but, like, have you come up with any particular moves for it, or...?"

"Oh! Uh, yeah, one," he replied. "It isn't much, though. Don't even know if it really counts as an ultimate move."

"What's it called?"

"St. Louis Smash," he replied. "It's basically just a glorified mid-air roundhouse kick."

Ochaco's face lit up a bit as she chuckled. "Still going with the All Might theme?"

Izuku chuckled sheepishly. "Heh heh, yeah, I guess. I know it's kinda weird..."

"I think it's cute," she blurted out, causing both of them to blush.

"R-really?" Ochaco could only nod a couple times, too embarrassed to form any coherent phrases. "Uh, t-thanks, Uraraka." She could only nod again as they continued to the spot Izuku had chosen.

* * *

Meanwhile, a good distance away, Toru had to place both of her hands in front of her face to smother her squeal of excitement while Tokoyami was busy giving instructions to Dark Shadow.

" _OmigoshomigoshomigoshOmigoooosh!"_ she thought as she looked across towards Mina, who was too busy climbing up the cement tower with Momo to notice the exchange. Toru wanted to loudly point them out, but she refrained, and took a few deep breaths before returning to her training, sneaking the occasional glance only when she was certain Tokoyami wouldn't be able to tell.

As that day's session went on, both of them appeared to benefit from the exercise, and Toru could observe them talking a good deal throughout, amidst a significant amount of awkward silences which Izuku didn't seem comfortable resolving. Toru wasn't sure whether that proved his mutual affection or if he was simply awkward and worried about her and not sure what to do to help.

" _Knowing him...probably both,"_ she thought to herself as she mulled over her observations following the conclusion of their training. Her muscles ached somewhat from the repeated blows from Dark Shadow, but she could at least acknowledge it was paying off: she was finding herself able to redirect even more light through her invisible body, making her Light Refraction technique that much more potent. After changing back into her normal clothes and once all of the other girls had left their changing area, Toru tapped Mina on the shoulder.

"Well?" she stage-whispered, her excitement returning. "What did you see?"

Mina seemed to deflate a bit. "Not much. Momo kept me busy. Call me crazy, but I think she's beginning to suspect something's going on."

"Not that hard a guess," Toru mused. "And she **is** the smartest student in the class..."

Mina groaned slightly, the memory of her barely satisfactory written exam grade still fresh in her mind. Toru noticed this and chuckled.

"Aw, come on, you've been getting better."

"I guess."

"Well, look on the bright side: it's Friday! Which means we have two full days of rest and relaxation ahead of us!"

"And two full days of whatever adorable stuff you saw earlier," Mina said with a smirk.

"It was **absolutely** adorable!" Toru replied, likely grinning. "Buuut also a bit awkward. Honestly, I don't think we need to bother with Step 1 anymore-I'm convinced, he's into her."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I mean, she's, like, the only girl he seems remotely comfortable talking to, while also being the one he seems least comfortable talking to. Like, simultaneously," Toru replied frankly.

"...Fair. But we should still look into it a bit more, just in case," Mina mused, finally deciding to get up off of the bench and walk out of the changing area, Toru at her heels. Tsuyu waved to them from the gym entrance.

"What took you two so long?" she asked, a slight ribbit sound escaping her lips.

"Oh, nothing. Mina just needed to wash her arms," Toru replied casually.

"Apparently there was a good deal of residual acid left there after all that training. You wouldn't **believe** how hard that is to get out, hehe!" Mina added with a chuckle.

Tsuyu nodded, and although she only looked half-convinced, she chose not to comment, instead simply turning around and heading towards the dorms with the other girls, Mina and Toru trailing behind them.

* * *

As soon as they had arrived, the first thing that the two girls noticed was that Ochaco seemed slightly more comfortable hanging out with the rest of the group post-training. Either that, or she didn't think the same excuse to leave immediately would work twice. In any event, she conversed fairly extensively with Iida and Todoroki regarding each of their efforts to perfect their ultimate moves. However, as Mina quickly noticed, she seemed to stop in her tracks on more than one occasion the instant her eyes wandered and happened to meet Izuku's, causing her to freeze up immediately. She wasn't quite sure if the other boys noticed, neither of them being the most well-versed in social graces, but after the second time, both she and Toru could clearly see that Izuku had noticed, and would occasionally glance over at Ochaco himself before turning away. Mina and Toru looked at each other from their respective vantage points around the common area, Mina smirking slightly as if she was beginning to agree with Toru's assessment, before they went back to their respective conversations and what homework assignments they had.

Hours later, once everyone had had their fill of conversing and finishing up as much homework as they could tolerate, Toru entered the elevator with the other girls. Before Mina could join them, however, she felt a tap on her shoulder from an unexpected source.

"A-Ashido-san?" Izuku began, in his usual timid fashion. "Can...we talk for a sec?"

Mina did her best to hide the involuntary widening of her eyes. Toru, having no such concerns, let them widen as much as they pleased, before Mina gave a curt nod to both Toru and Izuku. Without another word, Toru pressed the button to close the elevator, leaving Mina and Izuku the only two left in the common area.

"So...what's up?" she asked casually.

Izuku fidgeted slightly, evidently unsure of whether or not he should continue.

Mina chuckled. "Listen, I promise, everything said here shall never leave this room." She raised her hand and closed her eyes before continuing. "I swear it by the name of the House of Ashido."

Izuku chuckled at the tone of Mina's promise, before he began to fidget again. Beads of sweat formed along his forehead, and after a few attempts, he finally formulated what he wanted to say. "Well...it's a bit complicated, but...it's about...Uraraka."

This time, even her best efforts couldn't stop her natural surprise from manifesting itself as she widened her eyes.

" _Oh. My. God."_

* * *

Phew! You have no idea how much harder this was to write than the first chapter, my God.

I don't really have an outline for this, so I've been essentially improvising. Plus, it was impossible for me to find a good stopping point-even now I'm not sure if this pseudo-cliffhanger really works, but I'll leave that up to y'all.

In any event, the story's already veered sharply from my original mental outline, which featured most of their matchmaking efforts taking place after the exam(and also gave Mineta more screen time than he deserves). I think I was also planning on it running a lot longer than it reasonably should. So, at this point, where this story goes will largely be dependent on your feedback and whatever scenes I wish to include before coming to the conclusion I want. As always, please do not hesitate to leave any and all thoughts in reviews below-they really help both in informing the course of the story and just as general pick-me-ups.

Thank you all for reading, and I'll see you when the next chapter hits.


	3. Chapter 3

After more than a second of wordlessly staring at Izuku in total shock, Mina belatedly realized that she should mask her surprise, attempting to do so with a loud cough as she calmed herself down.

"So, uh...w-what about her?" she said, as casually as she could manage. Meanwhile, her thought process was considerably more erratic. " _Oh my God he likes her he's about to full out admit he likes her and he came to me for advice so he can finally ask her out holy crap this is actually happening oh my GOD!"_

Izuku seemed slightly off-put by her brief lapse, but continued regardless. "Well, uh...as you know, me and Uraraka have been hanging out a lot."

"...Uh huh," Mina said slowly, her thoughts continuing to spiral.

"And I like to think we've become...pretty good friends, these last few months."

"Uh huh..." Mina continued, barely containing her gleeful smile between her lips.

"But, lately..."

"Yes~?" Mina said with a slight lilt in her voice, giddy with anticipation.

"I've been feeling like I did something to upset her."

"...Huh?" Mina said as her expression morphed into one of slight disappointment and confusion.

"Well, it's just, I thought we were getting along pretty well for a while, but then, after the finals, she started becoming...distant. She left in a hurry when we went to the mall, we didn't talk much during the training camp, and then there was the whole mess with Bakugo..."

Mina just absorbed the information with a somewhat blank look in her eyes.

"After we got back, I thought things would go back to normal, but for some reason, she still doesn't seem entirely...comfortable around me. She would barely talk to me at all when we were training today, and she's been avoiding eye contact during class."

" _...How can you be so observant and so oblivious at the same time I cannot even-"_

"I figured it had something to do with the Kamino incident, but then I remembered all that other stuff, and...ugh, I just don't know anymore."

Mina suddenly found herself with an almost irresistible urge to grab him by his cheeks and explain the whole thing to him right then and there.

"I asked Iida, Todoroki, and Asui-I mean, Tsuyu-about it, but they hadn't noticed anything strange. Although...Tsuyu seemed a bit eager to change the subject for some reason. Also, Aoyama was looking at me funny the whole time- **no clue** what that's about," he thought aloud before turning back to her. "Have you noticed anything going on with her lately?"

" _...Yeah, this puppy needs a bone. Desperately."_

"You know, now that you mention it, she has seemed rather distracted lately," Mina said, putting her finger to her chin in thought.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Like she had something...or **someone** important on her mind," she replied, evidently laying it on a bit thick. "Like a **big secret** that she doesn't know how to handle. You know what I mean?"

Izuku tilted his head in confusion, before understanding dawned. "So, she seems distracted..."

"Yes."

"By something weighing heavily on her mind..."

"Yes!"

"And is worried about how I'd react..."

"YES!" Mina did her best to restrain her excitement and relief, although she could only do so much.

"Huh...I wonder if...no. No, that can't possibly be it. I mean, she's..."

Mina took a step forward, bouncing ever so slightly. "What? What are you thinking, Midoriya?" she said in anticipation.

Izuku chuckled nervously. "Ah, nothing. Just a dumb idea, that's all. As if a girl like her would..." he found himself trailing off, a slight blush forming around his cheeks as he realized Mina was standing right there, looking at him a bit more intently than he would've liked. He coughed loudly. "Hm! W-Well! Anyway! I-it must be something else!" He pushed the button on the elevator, still chuckling nervously, before Mina could get over her shock, letting out a somewhat strangled yelp.

"I should probably make the time to talk to her about whatever it is that's been bothering her."

"Uh-!"

"Thanks again for listening, Ashido-san!" He called out cheerfully as the elevator doors opened to admit him before swiftly closing again, leaving Mina alone in the common area as she processed what the hell just happened. After a few seconds, she began breathing heavily as sweat gathered around her cheeks and forehead, and her thoughts became utterly incoherent as a primal surge of frustration and anger overrode all other impulses within her mind.

* * *

She wasn't quite sure how long it was before her throat began to hurt.

She knew that she had been screaming into her pillow long enough that she had run out on breath twice now, but the exact duration remained a mystery. And in any event, she was far too busy continuing to scream to care, or even to fully register the aforementioned throat pain. Eventually, when she had to stop for breath a third time, a text alert interrupted her from continuing.

 _Uh...you okay?_

" _Toru's number,"_ Mina thought. Logical-her room was directly below Mina's, and if she was screaming as loud as she thought she had been screaming, she-and probably everyone on the third and fourth floors-had heard her. She sighed before picking up her phone and answering.

 _No. How much did you hear?_ she replied.

 _Your pillow blocked out most of it, but I could still hear the loudest bits. Sounded like a hyena dying in a field of hot coals._

 _Comforting._

 _ **Are**_ _you okay?_

 _I want to slap Midoriya so hard rn!_

 _Yikes. What happened?_

 _OKAY. SO. It would seem that he has definitely been crushing on her, for a decently long time!_

After a minute's pause, Toru simply replied, _...Go on._ Mina thought she could hear a slight squeal coming from downstairs, but she continued.

 _So after an AGONIZING amount of prodding_

 _Yesssss?_

 _The idea finally went into his head that MAYBE, just MAYBE, the reason that Ochaco is acting so weird around HIM and HIM ALONE is because she likes him back!_

Now she definitely heard squealing.

 _YAAAAAAS OMG THIS IS THE BEST THING_

 _BUT_

The squealing stopped.

 _BUT! THEN HE BE LIKE "OH NAH THAT CAN'T BE IT HAHA"_

 _...Wut_

 _THIS_

 _What?_

 _CHILD_

 _Are you for real rn_

 _THIS FRICKIN CHILD I SWEAR TO GOD_

 _How? Literally how?_

 _IDK!_

 _It's so obvious how does he not_

 _I!_

 _He's like a frickin genius what_

 _DON'T!_

 _I'm losing it dude!_

 _KNOW!_

 _What did you say?!_

 _I COULDN'T SAY ANYTHING! HE LEFT BEFORE I COULD RESPOND!_

 _So he just doesn't believe it?_

 _Yup_

 _Just, straight up?_

 _YUP_

 _Not even for a second?_

 _Y U P_

 _What the frick?!_

 _I-_

 _WHAT! THE! FRICK!_

 _AAAAAAAAA_

 _AAAAAAAAA_

After about thirty seconds of the pair of them alternating between actually screaming and holding down the 'a' key icon on their phones, the conversation resumed.

 _I don't even know what to do the child is so dense I CANNOT EVEN_

 _Or at the very least incredibly insecure. Like, seriously, how can a guy_ _ **that**_ _cute be_ _ **that**_ _insecure?_

Mina had to pause for a second, chuckling to herself in disbelief. _...You trying to tell me something, Toru? ;)_

 _Pffft! You act like I'm wrong._

Mina paused before she tilted her head in acknowledgement. She had a point.

 _...Fair. Just saying, if something's happening, you gotta let me know._

 _Believe me, you'll be the first. Also, same._

Mina chuckled in amusement. Toru she could see falling for him, but her? Ridiculous.

Then her mind went back to the conversation, and her frustration returned.

 _Uggghhh! I don't even know what to do anymore he's so frickin dense!_

 _What was he planning on doing?_

…

 _Mina?_

 _He mentioned talking to her about whatever's bothering her at some point, or some crap? Idfk._

 _GOOD! Okay! We can work with that! Phew._

 _Later. I've done enough working for today._

 _...Fair enough._

 _Anyway, I need to go drink some water-my throat hurts a lot._

 _Gotcha. Sorry for making you scream even more._

 _It's fine._

 _Good night!_

 _Night._

With that, Mina got up from her bed wearily and entered into the small half-bath in the corner of her room, pouring some warm tap water into a recyclable bottle she kept around. She lightly sipped the contents as she mulled over the night's developments, eventually resolving that, at the moment, sleep was preferable to thinking over that conversation for another minute. Thus, she let herself sink into her bed as she drifted off to sleep, while unbeknownst to her, Ochaco lay in her own bed awake and concerned, wondering what Mina could have been so upset about.

* * *

That morning, Ochaco had asked Mina why she had been so upset the previous night, and Mina had quickly whipped up some story about pressure from the licensing exam(which wasn't exactly a lie), which she seemed to accept readily enough. Further, contrary to their initial expectations, no such talk as Izuku had hinted at seemed to have occurred in the days leading up to the provisional license exam; whenever Izuku tried to meet up with Ochaco, she'd always be studying with Momo or training with some of the other guys, far too busy to be pulled aside to talk. Eventually, Toru and Mina observed, Izuku just seemed to table the issue, focusing solely on training in the last few days. Were they not concerned about their own performance and taking every second they could to train, they might've attempted to do some discreet prodding, but as it stood, they had far more important things to worry about.

At last, the day of the test itself had come, and although Mina and Toru in particular had some difficulty along with some of the others, everyone in their class had somehow managed to pass the first phase of the exam-quite the impressive feat with only 100 possible spots. Mina and Toru chatted amicably with some of the other UA students as they made their way to the waiting room.

"Man! Did you see that?" Toru cried out in excitement as Mina listened patiently. "There were, like, twenty guys all charging at us, and then I was like, 'Say cheese!' and bam! Blinded the whole lot of them!"

"It was indeed impressive, Hagakure," Tokoyami replied. "I am honored that our training produced such fruitful results."

"And don't forget that acid wall of yours!" Mineta cried out. "I would have been toast if you hadn't used it earlier! It just melted all that stuff to nothing!"

Mina regarded the babyish little troll for a second before allowing a slight smile to play across her features. "Thanks," she said genuinely.

Sato sighed. "I just hope I've got enough of a rush to get through the next half. What do you think it's going to be?"

"Hm...well, this first half was a combat trial. I highly doubt that they'd do something similar for the second trial," Iida reasoned. "Perhaps a rescue exercise of some sort?"

"Yeah, that makes sense," Toru added before her eyes fell upon the rest of their classmates as they walked in. She waved to Tsuyu and Momo excitedly. "Guys! We made it!" Tsuyu, Momo, and the rest of the UA students who passed prior to them all came to their side and offered their congratulations.

"Man, I can't believe all twenty of us passed!" Kaminari cried out jubilantly before ruffling Mineta's ball-like hair. "I was so sure you were gonna get taken out while ogling some girl's revealing costume."

Mineta blushed slightly before indignation took over. "H-hey! I ain't doing that in the middle of a test! What kind of guy do you think I am, huh?!" After a second, however, he smirked in his usual fashion. "Besides, from the looks of things, at least a few dozen others passed along with our own class' girls. And I've got plenty of time to look now..."

His hypothetical musings were swiftly interrupted by the interference of Mina's arm smacking him upside the head.

"Yeah, okay, whatever respect I just developed for you is officially gone," she replied frankly.

Kaminari simply laughed at his friend's pain while the girl stomped off, evidently to warn some of the others not to get too close.

"Oh, shut up, Sparky!" Mineta retorted, still bowled over in pain.

Just as Kaminari was about to come up with a jab of his own, however, the intercom turned on and demanded they pay attention. Within moments, the testing field they had just been on was reduced to rubble by a series of planted explosives. The announcer explained the parameters of the second half of the test: they were to exit the structure and go back out into the ruins to rescue a series of "bystanders" working for Help Us Company, a specialty organization whose employees are trained to help simulate disaster exercises. With that, the screens clicked off, and the students were given a few moments to gather their thoughts before heading out.

"Man...talk about a heavy scenario," Sato remarked.

"Indeed," Ojiro responded. "Still, we survived that madhouse-how bad could it be?"

"Ohoho, no!" Jirou said, slightly panicking. "I've seen enough movies to know exactly where that thought process leads! You are **not** jinxing this for me, Tailman!"

After a moment, Sero, who had been conversing with Shoji and some of the others, finally spotted Mineta and Kaminari, and the urge to share what he had seen during the test was too strong to be overcome. With a slightly giddy chuckle, he made his way to the two boys.

"Hey, guys! Boy, have I got a juicy story for you!"

"What's it rated?" Mineta asked, in an unusually business-like tone.

"Oh, R-rated, for sure."

"I'm listening."

"Alright, so-you see that Shiketsu chick in the bodysuit?" he asked, pointing to one of the Shiketsu students, Camie .

"Yep."

"Dude, if you're just gonna tell us she's hot, you're too late-I've been checking her out the whole time," Mineta replied, annoyed.

"She was hanging out with Midoriya behind a rock- **completely naked**!"

" **WHAT**?! MIDORIYAAAAA!" the two boys cried out in unison. Before Sero could say anything else, they had already gotten in Izuku's face.

"What's the big idea?!" Kaminari demanded. "We were out there risking our necks while you were hanging with that girl doing who knows what?!"

"And during a test too! Is this all a big joke to you?!" Mineta added.

"Agh! What the-what are you guys talking about?!" Izuku asked as he defended against the boys' assault.

"Don't play dumb with us Midoriya!" Mineta replied. "That girl! And you! What did you two do?!"

As he pointed dramatically at the girl, the girl glanced up from her conversation and gave a slight smile, waving to Midoriya. The expression on her face only intensified the boys' rage.

"You see?! That kind of subtle look is the kind of look that only happens when a guy and a girl's relationship goes to the next level!" Mineta proclaimed.

"Boy did we misjudge you, you womanizing scum!" the two of them cried out at once, continuing their assault upon him.

"Guys, seriously, I don't know what Sero told you, but it wasn't like that! Her Quirk let her shapeshift into other people, but melted off her clothes! She was **really** creepy!"

As the boys continued to squabble, Ochaco looked on, feeling some sickening feeling in her chest which she couldn't describe. Later, the Shiketsu girl walked over to Izuku.

"See you later," she said, with what Ochaco believed was an almost flirty tone. The ugly feeling only further intensified.

"A-ah, uh, sure," Izuku replied, legitimately terrified of the creepy girl.

"'Ah, sure?!' Oh, no you don't!" Kaminari shouted, jabbing a finger accusingly at Midoriya's chest.

"You pervy horndog!" Mineta added, not even bothering to consider the irony.

"Guys, seriously, quit it! You've got it all wrong!"

"Ugh, that's enough out of you!" Momo interrupted. "Honestly, to engage in such uncouth behavior right as the test is about to start!"

As the two backed off of Izuku, Ochaco looked on, still lost in thought and beset by some feeling she couldn't name.

" _What's going on?"_ Ochaco thought to herself. " _Why am I feeling so...out of sorts? I was doing fine earlier, but...now..."_

As Ochaco contemplated this, Mina and Toru observed the pair of them closely.

" _Mineta and the others are probably misinterpreting...whatever that was,"_ Mina thought to herself. " _But it still seems to be shaking up Ochaco pretty bad."_

Her course of action decided upon, Mina took a step towards Ochaco, but was thwarted by the intercom coming to life once more, signaling the start of the test and explaining the precise scenario of the coming exercise. With a slight groan of frustration, Mina set her objective aside and focused on passing the exam, rushing out of the now-opened room along with everyone else in order to save the H.U.C. bystanders.

As Ochaco proceeded behind Izuku, watching him do his best to conform to the H.U.C. personnel's standards while getting them to the evacuation center, she did the utmost to steady her nerves alongside the conflicting impulses swirling around in her head. She thought back to all of the conversations she'd had in the last few months.

" _You..._ like _him, don't you?"_

" _ **It's love.**_ "

" _There's someone you're crushing on...and you want to be just like them."_

" _They...they were right,"_ she realized. " _They were all right."_

As this hit her, she clenched her fist, a determined expression playing out across her features.

" _Even still...these_ feelings _...I can't let them interfere with my dream! I see Deku out there, doing his best, giving it his all to becoming the greatest hero he can be! And what kind of prospective hero would I be if I couldn't do the same?"_

She rushed forwards towards another collapsed building, turning away from Izuku's retreating form.

" _No! I'm not going to let these feelings trip me up! I'm going to work harder, as hard as I possibly can, to becoming the best hero I can be! And I'm not going to let anything distract me anymore!"_

With that, she continued forward, pushing any and all thoughts of Izuku from her mind as she set about her task.

* * *

Oh my lord it's finally done.

Okay, yeah, this one took a while, and there's a reason for that-pretty much everything after the text is a complete re-write. See, after that, I kinda lost focus on where exactly I wanted to go, so I just spent the longest time writing this hang-out with Ochaco, Mina, and Toru over that weekend and it just-didn't feel like it was going anywhere. It had some funny moments, but it felt meaningless. So, I'm trying to get more to the point, even if that results in a shorter chapter. And be warned, most of this I also wrote literally the day it's being published cuz I felt bad for making y'all wait so long, so...apologies in advance if it seems choppy.

Anyway, I think I have a better idea of where I want to go up to the big moment. After that, I might continue it, examining subsequent arcs of the manga in this altered timeline. I gave some thought to having Mina lend her services to some other prospective couples, but given the summary, Idk if that would be misleading or not. Let me know what you guys think.

In the meantime, thank you all for reading, and for your continued patience. Hope y'all have a fantastic night, and take care.


	4. Chapter 4

When the Provisional License Exam was finally done with and the results given out to all of the students, the majority of Class 1-A was in remarkably high spirits. True, Bakugo and Todoroki had both failed the second half of the exam, and the former was, unsurprisingly, incredibly bitter. But on the whole, the class had gotten through this latest hurdle with flying colors, among the first ever first year students to do so. Thus, it came as no surprise that the class had wanted to celebrate as soon as they got back to Heights Alliance.

Between Sato and Tsuyu's respective abilities in the kitchen, the group faced little difficulty in obtaining a wide selection of food from which they could eat. After a short formal meal, the students began to disperse throughout the common area, largely sticking to their own friend groups as they chatted about various things. Kaminari and Mineta seemed to be sticking together, glancing at Izuku occasionally with a look of complete distrust. Mina and Toru, meanwhile, watched them with a look of amusement, albeit some slight irritation.

"They are **not** subtle at all," Toru pointed out.

"Oh, absolutely not," Mina agreed.

"What are they so mad about again?"

"Apparently Midoriya was facing off against some psycho girl whose Quirk melted off her clothes."

Toru laughed. "Ah, so **jealousy** is the main motivator here."

Mina chuckled. "For the grape nut? Definitely. But Kaminari seems to think Midoriya wasn't taking the test seriously and fooling around with her."

"Uh...has he **met** Midoriya?" Toru asked, tilting her head judging by the crease around her shoulders. "He's the purest boy I've ever met in my life. And even if he wasn't...well, he's cute, but he ain't exactly Casanova."

Mina chuckled. "Yeah, well, Kaminari isn't the brightest bulb in the drawer."

"Ironic, considering," Toru quipped.

"Mhm."

"Still, feel like somebody needs to talk to them."

Mina held out her hand towards the pair. "Be my guest." Toru paused for a few seconds before moving back further into the couch.

"Point made," she conceded, to Mina's amusement.

While they were busy talking, they missed a brief exchange between Izuku and Bakugo.

"Yo!" Bakugo called out to Izuku. "Meet me out front later. We gotta talk about your Quirk."

Bakugo left towards the elevator, ending the conversation as quickly as it started.

As Kirishima had been pulled into a conversation with Ojiro at the time, only Ochaco noticed Izuku tense up from across the room as Bakugo left, sweating profusely and muttering to himself even more softly than he usually did.

"Hey, Deku, are you feeling okay?" she asked, startling him. "Was it something Bakugo said?"

Izuku stepped back a pace before quickly coming up with a response.

"N-no, nothing like that! I'm fine! I think I'm just gonna...turn in early. Gotta be well rested for class tomorrow, you know?"

Ochaco slowly nodded, clearly not buying it, and Izuku took it as a signal to leave immediately. Before he could get too far, she grabbed him by the shoulder without even thinking.

"Just...let me know if you want to talk. Okay?"

Izuku seemed to pause for a moment, as if he were considering an idea, before dismissing it immediately.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay."

With that, he left towards the elevator, leaving Ochaco somewhat relieved, yet still concerned about just what was going on between the two of them.

* * *

Hours later, while everyone else was busy turning in, Mineta sat awake in bed, mulling over recent developments regarding Izuku.

" _To think,"_ he thought to himself _, "At one time I regarded him as too plain and soft-spoken to be a serious threat. Oh, but that just goes to show how naive I was!"_ He laughed sardonically _. "It was already bad enough that the nerd won over a cute babe like Uraraka without even trying, but then Hagakure and Ashido kept staring at him all last week! Came out of nowhere! I mean, what the hell?! And now_ _ **this**_ _?! I barely even managed to_ _ **pass**_ _that stupid test, and he almost gets_ _ **laid**_ _during it?! With a second-year girl he knew for all of five minutes?! It's not fair! How come_ _ **I**_ _can't find chicks that easy?!"_

It took everything in the short boy's power not to slam his bedpost in frustration. And it was well that he did not, for just as the thought occurred, he heard his detestable neighbor's door open gingerly, as if he were being careful not to alert anyone to his actions. While he continued to walk down the hall and into the elevator, Mineta pondered where he might be off to at such an hour, and didn't like what came to mind.

" _Probably off to 'talk later' with that girl! Tch! Well, he can go screw_ _ **himself**_ _for all I care! I hope that bitch gives him-!"_ he laid out a curse upon Izuku in his head before a thought occurred to him. " _Wait a second...if he's gone..."_

He began to hatch a plan in his twisted little head. " _Yes, of course! All men have their secrets! There has to be_ _ **something**_ _hidden in that room of his! Something that might explain how he's getting chicks so easily! Or, at the very least, something_ _ **really**_ _embarrassing! I just have to arrange for the items in question to be 'misplaced' somewhere, and that sneaky bastard's rep with the ladies is as good as gone!"_

Eagerly jumping out of bed and grabbing some necessary equipment, Mineta swiftly made his way towards the veranda. Pushing aside the habitually closed curtains, he gently opened the sliding glass door and stepped out. Not wishing to spare one glance at the 2 story drop below him, he climbed up onto the railing of his veranda and pulled off two of his hair balls, placing him in each hand in order to allow him to cling to the outer wall. With a few careful motions, he was over on Izuku's veranda. Discarding the balls for later use, he then inspected the window, and found, as he expected, that it was locked.

Wasting no time, he pulled out the lockpicking equipment he'd obtained prior to the summer training camp, and set to work as quietly as he could manage. Having self-taught himself in the art from a young age, he quickly identified the lock he was dealing with and had just about succeeded in breaking in when fate took a turn against his fortunes. Aoyama, suffering from a stomach-ache as a result of using his Quirk too much during the exam, exacerbated by the food, had been out of sorts for some time now. Waking up suddenly to a dull, persistent pain in his abdomen, he decided to go outside and take in the fresh air, where he discovered Mineta and let out a cry of fright.

"AGH! _Que faites-vous_ , Mineta?!"

Mineta, similarly startled, leaped back from the window and turned to face the blonde student.

"A-Aoyama?! The hell are you up so late for?!"

"I might ask you the same, _vagabond_!" Aoyama replied indignantly, one of the few times Mineta couldn't tell if he was speaking in English or French. Nevertheless, he continued angrily, "For what purpose are you attempting to break into Monsieur Midoriya's room?!"

Not sure how to respond, Mineta simply stuttered out, "N-none of your business!"

"Is that so? Well, we'll see what my navel has to say about that, _brigand_!"

As Aoyama began to charge up his laser, ignoring the worsening stomach pain, Mineta took a step back in fear and blurted out his true purpose. "I-I just wanted to see how he does it!"

The vagueness of the response left Aoyama puzzled, and he briefly relaxed his navel, prompting Mineta to explain. "How Midoriya does...what, exactly?"

"I mean, c-come on, you've seen what's been going on with him, haven't you? Uraraka falling head over heels, Mina and Toru's sudden interest, that thing with the Shiketsu girl-"

"The _psychopathe_ with the strange Quirk?" Aoyama tilted his head in confusion. "From what he told me at the party, their relationship was hardly intimate. And furthermore, Monsieur Midoriya is an honorable man-he would not engage in such uncouth behavior during an important examination."

"Then where's he going off to at this time of night?!" Mineta snapped, to Aoyama's confusion. He glanced into the window to confirm that Izuku was, in fact, gone.

"I...am not certain," he replied, puzzled. "But I can assure you that his purpose is not as you have assumed."

"Bah! I'm not putting anything past him at this point. And even assuming you're right, there's still the other three. How can someone that awkward be that desirable to women? It doesn't make any sense!"

"He may be...inept in some ways, yes, but he has demonstrated a singular determination and fervor for the ideals of heroism. It's easy to see how such single-minded tenacity may be considered attractive." Aoyama took a deep breath before continuing. "But regarding the matter at hand, I am afraid I still see no reason why I shouldn't thrash you and inform Aizawa-sensei of your _mauvaise conduite_."

As Aoyama began charging his laser once more, Mineta caved. "W-wait a sec! I can make it worth your while, I swear!"

"Whatever you may have hidden in your laptop's hard drive is of no interest to me," Aoyama replied coldly, before an idea occurred to him. One which, although slightly unsatisfactory to him, could ultimately deal with two persistent issues he'd observed among the students in a single stroke. "Although...there may be one way in which both of our desires can be fulfilled. In such a case, I would be willing to...forget about this incident."

Mineta cried out in relief before asking, "Name it!"

"Before you agree, note that there is one condition which I must impose upon you if you wish to purchase my silence."

Mineta's face fell as he asked again, "...Name it."

"You are to cease your _ouvertures_ upon the girls immediately. What you choose to do alone in your own dorm room is at your discretion, but should I find your _méprisable_ public behavior has continued..." he let the sentence hang, his meaning clear to the boy.

"G-got it. Now...what was it you wanted? And...how exactly is it supposed to benefit me?"

Aoyama took a deep breath, swallowing a part of his pride as he answered. "It is clear that you have noticed the affection the young Mademoiselle Uraraka holds for Monsieur Midoriya."

"Oh, without a doubt. She's been crushing on that lucky bastard for weeks, at least."

"You believe, however erroneously, that the Monsieur is considered desirable by several women whom you yourself desire. However...should he end up with one woman alone..."

Mineta's eyes widened. "Then any other girls would be more likely to back off..and be free for the taking."

Aoyama winced at the look in Mineta's eyes, yet continued nonetheless. "S-so, it is agreed-you will provide assistance in this _acte d'amour_ in exchange for my silence on this matter?"

Mineta nodded, a smile on his face. "You've got yourself a deal, mi amigo!" he said, not realizing that he wasn't speaking French. Suddenly realizing he needed to fix the lock, he slowly set about the task of reversing his handiwork as best he could, while Aoyama simply sighed and went back to his room, wondering if he should have let the little gremlin be punished after all. He briefly considered leaving his room to seek out Izuku, but a louder groan from his stomach made the prospect of moving any further extremely unattractive. He collapsed onto his bed with a groan, resolving to leave Izuku to his business.

" _He's probably just out for a nighttime jog around campus,"_ he thought, still grappling with pain. " _I mean, what other reason could a man like Monsieur Midoriya be out at this hour?"_ With thoughts like this occupying his mind, Aoyama eventually drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Evidently, Aoyama hadn't devoted much thought towards what else Izuku could've been doing the previous night.

"You fought?!"

"Lockdown?!"

Mina and Toru directed their questions at an angry Bakugo and a dejected Izuku, who had surprised everyone by coming into the common area with vacuum cleaners and out of their school uniforms. Bakugo simply growled while Izuku explained Aizawa's terms for their house arrest after getting into a climactic duel in Ground Beta after hours. As Izuku nodded, the class began to make their opinions known.

"Idiots!"

"Nonsense!"

"Fools!"

"Are you two stupid?!"

"Oh, the stupidest, for sure!"

Bakugo growled deeper while Izuku sunk into himself, evidently ashamed. Ochaco had been rightfully indignant at first, especially given her familiarity with Bakugo's temper, but calmed down a bit upon seeing Izuku's shame.

"Well...did you make up in the end, at least?"

Izuku began to sweat nervously. "U-uh, well...not exactly, but...well, it's hard to put into words..."

Before he could elaborate, Iida got up in his face, his expression stern. "Well! A fine job you've done getting punished! I suppose that neither of you will be attending the opening ceremony then!" With a huff, he turned away from his friend, focusing instead on directing the class to depart promptly for the ceremony.

Todoroki called over to Bakugo. "Come on, man, what about that course for our licenses?"

"Mind your own business, you half and half bastard!" Bakugo shot back.

Todoroki simply sighed and walked towards where Iida was directing the group. Ochaco likewise spared one last glance before falling into line.

"Welp. Have fun cleaning up the place," Sero remarked, being the last one to exit the common area along with Mina and Toru. Bakugo simply grunted in frustration, while Izuku seemed to sink even further.

When they were out of their earshot and heading towards the location of the ceremony, the students began gossiping amongst themselves.

"Man...of all the ways to start the morning," Sato began.

"I'll say. I never would've guessed they'd do something like this," Jirou added, before receiving skeptical glances from Kaminari, Kirishima, Sero, and Mina. "...That **Midoriya** would do something like this."

"Oh yeah, no!"

"Completely caught me by surprise!"

"Totally unexpected!"

"Yeah, you can say that again!"

"Didn't think Midoriya had it in him to get in trouble like that," Toru remarked. Iida and Todoroki shared a glance, both thinking of the same thing. Momo and Kirishima likewise raised an eyebrow, as did Mina, albeit for a different reason.

"Uh...we're talking about the same guy, right?" Kirishima ventured.

"You know what I mean! I didn't think he was the kind of guy to get into a fight with a classmate."

"Didn't look like he planned on it, exactly," Kirishima replied. "Dude seemed pretty shaken up by it all."

"Hm. Life comes at you fast," Mineta replied smugly. Aoyama shot him a glance.

Ochaco appeared to be on the verge of saying something in Izuku's defense, but just as she gathered the courage, Iida reinforced their sense of urgency to arrive at the opening ceremony on time. As Ochaco walked on, dejected, Mina and Toru found themselves glancing with interest, unaware that Aoyama was observing the two girls as well, beginning to make connections in his mind.

* * *

Later, when the ceremony was over and done with and the students were readying themselves to leave their last class of the day, Aoyama pulled out his phone and created a group chat with Mina and Toru, sending in a simple message which the two girls got just as the bell rang.

 _I want in_.

At first, Toru and Mina were confused by this, and turned their heads towards Aoyama, a question in their eyes. In response, Aoyama cocked his own head towards Ochaco, who had just walked out the door. Mina's eyes widened as she connected the dots, and she grinned and nodded in affirmation. As he nodded in turn, all three of them made their way out of the classroom and back to their dorms. Their teacher for that time of the day, Midnight, had observed the entire exchange, and found her own idle curiosity piqued.

" _Hm. Some sort of discreet matchmaking affair, huh?"_ she mused to herself as she said her goodbyes to the last of the students, giving her daily flirty wink to Mineta purely to mess with him. For some reason, he seemed less enthusiastic about it that day, but Midnight chalked it up to nerves over the start of the second semester. However, her thoughts soon turned back to their original course. _High school matchmaking-man, that sure takes me back. Could they finally be setting those two up? Seems far past time, but, well, better late than never, I suppose."_ A mischievous smirk made itself known as she thought of a delightful possibility. " _Ooh, I should totally 'randomly' select them for the group project coming up! It'll be sooo cute!"_ With this thought, she happily set about grading Class 1-B's assignments from earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, after the three students had went their separate ways to their respective dorm rooms, Mina pulled out her phone and resumed their conversation.

 _Figured you knew something was up ;)_

Mina could hear Aoyama scoffing haughtily while reading his reply.

 _Please. I am not so_ débile _as to not notice the obvious._

 _How long have you known?_

 _I had been idly noticing various details in their interactions for some time. Events during the final drove me to ask her plainly. Her response confirmed my suspicions, not to mention inadvertently won us the match._

 _So, you want to help out, huh?_

Oui _._

 _Alright, but if we're going to be working together, we need a team name!_

 _No we don't, Toru._

Non _, we do not._

 _I know! How about the..._ Equipe D'amour? _Does that work?_ She asked after a minute's pause, evidently looking up the translation.

 _The Love Squad? Not very_ original _._

 _Yeah._

 _Then how about the Love Buddies?_

 _...It_ is _kinda cute,_ Mina said after a moment's consideration.

 _If it gets your mind focused onto the task at hand, then very well,_ Aoyama replied, his annoyance evident even over text. _Now, what is the current situation?_

 _Well, we know they're both crushing on each other pretty hard._

 _And we know that Midori feels that she couldn't possibly feel the same._

 _...Even when it's_ that _obvious?_

 _I KNOW, RIGHT?! LIKE, WHAT THE HELL, DUDE?!_

 _ANYWAY!_ Toru cut in, _We haven't really got much in the way of a plan. We kinda put it on the back burner for the exams, and now that Midoriya's gone and gotten himself grounded, there aren't many options open._

 _Not to mention these work studies that are coming up. You can bet both of them will sign up and be way too busy with those on top of classes starting up again._

 _Hm..._ pénible _. But we may be able to arrange something._

 _What did you have in mind?_ Mina asked.

 _Well, before I say anything more, the two of you should know: I have procured the assistance of another individual._

 _Oh, really?_ Mina replied.

 _Why didn't you add them here?_

 _..._

…

 _...It's Mineta, isn't it?_ Mina asked point blank. Aoyama was completely silent. _Yeah, that's gonna be a_ no _, chief._

 _I understand your_ hostilité _, but-_

 _You got that right: I have "_ hostilité" _towards that disgusting little grapefruit with all of my being._

 _Seriously, why would you even bring that little creep onto this?_ Toru asked.

 _...Without revealing specifics, I managed to bring him under my power by chance last night. In exchange for my silence, he has agreed to cease his remarks to you girls and assist me in this enterprise._

 _...Huh,_ Mina eventually said with a short chuckle. _Well, okay. As long as you can keep that going, that'll be a nice change of pace._

 _Still dunno how I feel about him working on this with us, tho,_ Toru said.

 _Yeah, what would he even do?_

 _I am not certain. I simply thought I should let you know._

 _Well...alright. You mentioned a plan?_ Mina asked.

 _I like to think that me and Monsieur Midoriya are on friendly terms, as are both of you and Uraraka._

Mina snapped her fingers, a grin playing out across her face.

 _We both invite them to the same place and coincidentally meet each other?_

 _Precisely._

Hm... Toru replied, thinking, Well, _we've already established that Midoriya is as dense as a rock, but won't Ochaco know what's up?_

 _Eh, maybe, but then again, she can't tell he likes her, so..._

 _Fair._

 _Indeed._

 _So, are we thinking this weekend?_ Mina asked.

 _Yeah! The work studies start next week, right? That's what Aizawa-sensei told us. You guys good for Saturday?_

Oui.

 _Totally._

 _What about the location?_ Aoyama continued.

 _Ooh! There's this arcade a couple blocks from campus!_ Mina replied excitedly.

 _Hm. I was thinking more of a boba shop._

 _Yes, but an arcade would be easier to disguise as a group activity,_ Aoyama pointed out.

 _Yeah! Plus, Midori's a nerd-he'd have more fun there!_

 _Well, alright,_ Toru said. _Saturday get together at the arcade! Let's do this!_

 _Yeah!_

Laisse nous partir!

 _Go Love Buddies!_

 _Yeah!_

 _...I have homework that must be done._ Au revoir _._

 _Pffft!_ Mina typed, giggling to herself.

 _As_ absolutely awful _as his taste is, he_ does _have a point. We should probably be focusing on that._

 _I don't wanna, tho._

 _But you have to._

 _Nooooo_

 _Mina!_

 _Ugh, fine! I'll do the nightmare English homework. If you find me dead of boredom tomorrow morning, you are more than welcome to my stuffies._

 _Got it. See you later!_

 _See you._

With that, the three ended their conversation and returned with some reluctance to the arduous task of Present Mic's homework for that night, each one's thoughts preoccupied with the plan they had set out to accomplish just days away.

* * *

And it is done once more!

This one wasn't quite as hard to put together as the last one-I definitely knew that I wanted Aoyama involved in some capacity, simply because it made sense since he first noticed it and...idk, he's kinda been growing on me. And I definitely figured that Mineta would get involved somehow. All that needed doing then was simply putting the pieces together and carrying out a plan.

Also, have fun plugging all the stuff Aoyama says into Google Translate, lmao.

Anywho, as always, let me know what you all think of this chapter in the reviews below. Thank you all for reading, have a fantastic night, and take care!


	5. Chapter 5

In spite of a fairly hectic academic week, the days passed by quickly for Mina and the others. Before long, Friday evening was upon them, and they were left in their respective dorm rooms, making their final preparations. Toru messaged the group for one last check before the fateful day.

 _Toru: Alright, Love Buddies, sound off._

 _Mina: Here!_

 _Aoyama: ..._ Je suis là.

 _Toru: Yes, Aoyama, we know you hate the name, but it stuck, so deal with it. Anyway, how did each of your tasks go? Mina?_

 _Mina: Well, tbh, I wasn't entirely sure I could pull it off..._

* * *

Earlier that day, Mina was sitting leisurely on the couch flipping through her social media feed, while waiting for the arrival of a particular person. Eventually, she caught sight of a distinctive set of brown curls, and looked up from her phone.

"Hey, Ochaco!" she called out to get her attention. "I got two passes to this neat arcade not too far from here that I've been meaning to use. Wanna come with tomorrow at 1?"

Ochaco paused, clearly hesitant. "Uh...well, I'm not busy tomorrow, and...they **do** pay for everything, so...oh, what the hell? Yeah, I'm in!"

"Great! See you then!"

* * *

 _...but I think I managed it pretty well._

 _Toru: Awesome. And you, Aoyama?_

 _Well, Monsieur Midoriya proved more difficult. I wasn't entirely sure if I would succeed…_

* * *

"An arcade?" Izuku asked, leaning slightly onto the counter of the kitchen. Aoyama nodded.

" _Oui!_ I had two passes and couldn't think of anyone to go with, but I figured you would enjoy it."

Izuku thought about the situation for a second. "Hm...that **does** sound fun, but I dunno if I can afford to miss out on study time right now. Lockdown put me way behind everyone else."

"Still, perhaps a break is what _le docteur_ ordered for you, as they say. I can't imagine a trip to the arcade will take too much time out of your day."

Izuku considered this, his gut instinct being to refuse the invitation and focus on his studies. He most certainly was behind, and going to an arcade for a couple hours definitely wouldn't help matters much, particularly since that was the same day as his upcoming interview with Sir Nighteye. But, then again, he also hadn't had too many opportunities to just hang out with a friend as of late, and Aoyama was decent company. Between being put under lockdown, cramming for the license exam, and doing all of that not too long after the traumatic circumstances of the summer training camp and Bakugo's abduction, genuine relaxation was in fairly short supply. Iida was busier than most due to his role as the class representative, Todoroki had to contend with his new remedial course in order to get his provisional license, and Uraraka...still seemed to be avoiding him most of the time.

With how busy he'd become, it had completely slipped his mind to set aside time to talk to her about whatever was bothering her. As long as he didn't, they were caught in this weird limbo. They rarely talked, if at all, and when they did, it was always fairly typical back-and-forth, rather than a truly meaningful conversation. And, try as he might, he couldn't figure out what was bothering her based on her behavior alone. He had some theories, some of which were...less plausible than others, but nothing concrete.

" _Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd think that she really did-"_

"Midoriya?"

Aoyama broke Izuku out of his thoughts and returned him to the matter at hand.

" _Êtes-vous bien_?" he asked, looking closely at Izuku's face. Izuku nodded a little hurriedly.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just...thinking about some things."

Tabling those thoughts for now, he took a deep breath, and gave an answer after due consideration.

"I could use some fun and relaxation," he said, smiling a little. Aoyama's face brightened slightly in response.

" _Excellent_!" Aoyama replied, handing Izuku one of the passes. "I shall expect you at _une heure_ tomorrow!" he said before rapidly making his way towards the elevator and pushing the button. After a couple seconds, the doors opened, and Izuku called out to the sparkly student as he entered.

"Wait...at what time?" he asked, confused. If Aoyama was irritated, he didn't let it show.

"One!" the student answered, just an instant before the doors began to close, and Izuku was left alone, forced to wait for the elevator to come back down before he could get back up to his room. He sighed, doing his best to distract himself waiting for the elevator, his thoughts just as muddled as before.

* * *

 _I thus secured his attendance._

 _Mina: Oh, btw, how did you get your hands on those passes so fast, Toru?_

 _Toru: Haha...well…_

* * *

"Thanks again for helping out on such short notice, Todoroki."

Todoroki sat on the couch in the common area, calmly working through the steps involved in purchasing four deluxe passes for the arcade they were planning on visiting online. Toru, meanwhile, was leaning against the couch, facing away from him.

"No problem," he said, before clicking one last button and completing the process. "There. All set."

"Great!" Toru replied happily, turning around to see that, indeed, the four passes were ready to be printed out as soon as she took her laptop back up to her room. She carefully read the price of the four items to see how much she owed. She winced. It was pretty steep. "Let's see...I should be able to pay you back in about a week." She'd have to shake down the others in order to get most of the cash, but hey, they wanted the passes ready for Saturday, so as far as she was concerned, they ought to chip in.

"Don't bother," Todoroki said as he got up from the couch and began walking away. Toru couldn't help but be surprised.

"A-are you sure? That's a lot of money to throw around, Todoroki."

"Trust me," he said as he turned back to look at her. "In this case, helping is its own reward." Toru swore she saw him smirk as he said it, which only left her more confused.

After he had walked off, she sat down to look over the transaction and make sure everything was in order. When she looked into the payment information, however, she realized what Todoroki had been hinting towards, a fact that sent a chill down her spine:

He hadn't used his own credit card.

* * *

 _Mina: OMFG!_

 _Aoyama: How nefarious!_

 _Mina: He used his pops' credit card I'm DEAD! xD_

 _Aoyama: I'm not so sure I would be as willing to incur the wrath of the Number One Hero as Todoroki appears to be._

 _Mina: Ah, Endeavor's a dick from what I hear. Let him suffer._

 _Toru: 0-0_

 _Toru: ...Anyway. With that, Operation Puppy Love is proceeding as planned!_

 _Aoyama: Must we give it a name as well?_

 _Mina: Yes._

 _Toru: Yes._

 _Aoyama:_ Ridicule.

 _Toru: Okay, why do you speak in French over text, too? Seems a bit weird._

 _Aoyama:_ Ce n'est pas votre affaire.

 _Mina: We're getting distracted, team! Focus! Now, is there anything left for us to do?_

 _Toru: Uh, I don't think so. Just make sure you get to the metro on time. And bring cash!_

 _Aoyama: Indeed._

 _Mina: Got it. Oooh! This is gonna be so much fun!_

* * *

"This is gonna be so much fun!"

Mina half-led, half-dragged Ochaco by the hand as the two girls made their way down the sidewalk leading away from the metro station closest to the arcade. Ochaco stumbled a little as she attempted to adjust herself to Mina's enthusiastic gait.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Ochaco asked plainly. "It's not like the arcade's gonna close anytime soon!"

"Yeah, but at this particular arcade, everyone rushes in right around lunchtime. If you don't get there quick, all the best games will be surrounded by people, and you'll have to wait **forever**!" To her credit, Mina was actually speaking from experience.

"Still, you don't have to move quite so-"

She caught sight of Izuku first, his green, curly hair almost unmistakable as he stood awkwardly outside of the arcade. In his usual fashion, he wore a simple gray hoodie and baggy pants, the hoodie labeled on the back with the simple word "Hoodie."

"...Fast," she finished, momentarily at a loss for words.

Izuku glanced around, which she could tell he had done a lot for as long as he'd been standing around, but his eyes widened once he'd processed just who he was seeing. The two looked at each other, each of them surprised by the other's presence in the area. Mina, meanwhile, did her best to convey the same legitimate surprise that Ochaco felt. Fortunately for her, this wasn't particularly difficult, as she was indeed surprised: surprised that Aoyama was nowhere to be found.

"Oh my gosh, Ochaco, look!" she said, pretending to be oblivious to her embarrassment before she called out to Izuku at the top of her lungs, irritating nearby pedestrians while only serving to leave Izuku embarrassed as well. Nevertheless, their arrival represented a break in his vigil, and thus, he walked over to greet them while Ochaco pulled herself together.

"Hey Uraraka, Ashido," Izuku began. "What are you two doing here?"

Ochaco tried to formulate a response for a second before Mina cut her off. "We were about to go into the arcade! But, uh...why are you just standing out here?"

"Well, I came here with Aoyama, but he had to go to the restroom. Not quite sure what's taking him so long..."

Upon hearing Aoyama's name, Ochaco glanced over at Mina, a seed of suspicion planted in her head which, for the moment, didn't have too much to go off of. "So you've just been waiting for him all by yourself? Why didn't you play some games to pass the time?" Ochaco asked.

Izuku shrugged. "He took the passes with him, and by the time I thought to ask for them, he'd been in there for a while. I didn't want to bother him. Plus, it's pretty packed in there."

"Packed?" Ochaco asked, turning to Mina. "Do you think we hit that lunch rush you were talking about?"

Mina looked a little worried, but laughed it off. "Ah, there's probably still something available. Come on, let's go inside!"

Izuku and Ochaco nodded, and they walked in...to find the place completely packed, with every arcade machine within sight not only occupied, but with at least two other people standing around it, waiting for their turn. The students' faces fell as they realized that they wouldn't get to play any arcade games for a long while. It was at this point that the three of them saw Aoyama running towards them from the direction of the restrooms. Upon seeing them, he slowed down and glanced to his right towards the arcades, his expression sinking.

" _Merde_ ," he said simply.

"Yup," Mina agreed, recognizing one of the few French words she managed to consistently remember.

"So what now?" Izuku asked. Mina and Aoyama looked back at him uncertainly, while Ochaco began to think.

"...The passes cover food, don't they?"

* * *

After five minutes, the four of them were seated at a table and handed both menus and drinks. Ochaco insisted on water despite Mina reminding her that the passes had enough credit to get her something more expensive without consequence.

"Eh, I know. Force of habit, I guess. I got used to drinking straight from the tap back when I lived in my apartment, and I always try to pick the cheapest option when I eat out," Ochaco replied.

Izuku nodded as a thought occurred to him. "I'm curious: what are you using that apartment for, now that you're living in the dorms?"

Ochaco seemed to brighten up a little at the question. "Well, I wasn't quite sure what to do with it after I'd moved out, but as luck would have it, my parents came upon a solution. One of their employees, Hiromi, has been looking for an apartment to share with her girlfriend for a while now. I reached out to them, and they agreed to pay the full rent price if I sublet the apartment. We drew up a contract, got my landlord to agree, and that was that. They're moving in next week!"

"Oh, wow! Congratulations!" Izuku replied, causing Ochaco to blush a bit.

"Are you going to help with all of the furniture and stuff when they move in?" Mina asked.

Ochaco shook her head. "There's no need. Hiromi's got a pretty strong strength enhancement Quirk. They should be fine." She chuckled as a memory came back to her. "Ah, gosh, you guys should've seen their faces when they looked at my apartment. They were just mortified!"

"You know, come to think of it, what **does** your apartment look like? I don't think I've ever thought to ask that," Mina remarked.

Ochaco chuckled, as if she was anticipating something funny. "I've got some pics on my phone, one sec." She thumbed through her pictures while Aoyama and Mina moved around next to her and Izuku to get a better look. Ochaco eventually found the photos she was looking for and held out her phone for the others' inspection. They all gasped in shock almost simultaneously.

" _Sacrebleu_!"

"Whoa!"

"It's got even less furniture than your **dorm**!" Mina cried out in surprise.

Ochaco smiled sheepishly as everyone continued to stare at the photos in surprise. And for good reason: all that her apartment's main room seemed to have beyond the kitchenette in the corner was a television, a simple chair, a dresser on which the television sat, and a basic coffee table. Her bedroom consisted of nothing more than a basic bed and nightstand, along with a couple stuffed animals. The bathroom had nothing save for a single toothbrush and various other hygiene products. Even the cheap rotating fan they had seen in her dorm room was nowhere to be found here.

"I can't believe you had so little furniture in there!" Mina said, still trying to process it all.

"Ah, I didn't even have that much originally. I got the television and chair for free off the street."

"The street/ _La rue_?!" Mina and Aoyama asked simultaneously. Ochaco nodded.

"I had to look around for some parts to set it up, but once I did, it worked like a charm."

"Wow. You don't find stuff like that lying around very often. You were pretty lucky," Izuku said, smiling.

Ochaco smiled back. "Yeah, it was definitely a welcome addition: things got pretty boring in there when there wasn't any homework to do."

Mina chuckled. "Well, if there's one thing U.A. offers, it's excitement...for better or worse," she finished with a wry smile.

" _Tout à fait_."

"You've got that right," Ochaco and Izuku said at once, each surprised for a second before they laughed awkwardly. Mina smiled.

"Are you guys going to sign up for the work study program?" she asked. Aoyama hung his head.

"Unfortunately, my former mentor has no room for me on her staff, and the connections I gained from my internship have not yet produced any fruitful results," he said despondently. "It would seem that _ma brillante lumière_ is not needed by any agencies at this time." Izuku nodded along.

"Yeah, I wasn't quite sure what to do for the work study program either," he admitted. "But this morning, Togata helped introduce me to Sir Nighteye, All Might's former sidekick, and he accepted my application."

"Whoa, All Might's sidekick?!" Mina asked, completely thrown for a loop.

" _Comment sur la marque_ ," Aoyama said, chuckling to himself.

"That's really cool, Deku!" Ochaco said encouragingly. Izuku chuckled, although Ochaco noticed that his apparent good humor didn't quite reach his eyes.

" _The more I see, the more I fail to understand why it had to be you."_

The memory came to the forefront unbidden. It wasn't the first time it had done so, especially since the event in question had only happened a few hours ago.

" _He did? To a nobody like you?"_

He tried to shut it out, to dismiss it. And yet, try as he might, he couldn't. It was like a steady stream of water being poured upon a seed of doubt. What had always been there, struggling to persist, now began to grow, exerting greater influence within every corner of his mind.

" _Even if it goes against his will...you will gain experience in this office that will make you aware of who_ truly _deserves this power."_

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome, haha," he said, but by this point, Ochaco was looking at him with just a little bit of concern. She could tell that something was wrong, and Izuku had enough sense to know this. Hoping to distract himself and stave off any probing questions, he decided to try and change the focus of the conversation. "What about you, Uraraka?"

Ochaco smiled, happy to go along with Izuku's strategy for the moment, as well as legitimately pleased about her own arrangement. "Well, like you, I wasn't quite sure where I could go, but a few days ago after school, I was paid a surprise visit by Nejire. Before I knew it, she was dragging me-literally, dragging me-to her employer's office. And then, within maybe ten minutes, I was offered a position under Miss Ryukyu."

Izuku had been in the middle of taking a sip out of his water, but as soon as Ochaco mentioned the name, it took everything he had to swallow it down without choking. Ochaco looked over at him worriedly while the others were left in shock.

"Ryukyu?!" he finally managed to get out. "You're working under the Number Nine Pro Hero?! That's amazing!"

Ochaco started to blush when faced with the sheer energy radiating from Izuku's eyes. "A-ah, it's really not that big of a deal." Mina looked at her sternly.

"What are you talking about? It's a huge deal! She's one of the biggest women in the business!"

" _Littéralement_ ," Aoyama remarked, reflecting on what he knew about the Dragoon Hero's powerful transformation Quirk.

"I-I mean, I wasn't the only person she picked up. Tsuyu-"

"So?! That's awesome too, but that doesn't detract from how awesome it is that you were picked! The awesomeness is completely separate!" Mina interrupted.

"Exactly!" Izuku agreed.

"Seriously, like, this is a really big accomplishment, Ochaco. Own it! Most people don't get offers like that, you know," Izuku and Aoyama both nodded along, while Ochaco blushed a little more.

"T-thanks, guys," she said, before becoming quiet for a moment. She sighed tiredly. "Ah, I dunno, I guess I've just been feeling like I don't deserve to be there. I mean, Nejire's one of the Big Three, and of course, Miss Ryukyu is one of Japan's best heroes. Compared to them..." She paused, not sure what else to say. Izuku looked at her with some slight concern as well, as a particular nagging thought came to him.

" _You will gain experience in this office that will make you aware of who_ truly _deserves this power."_

"You deserve to be there," he said firmly, causing Ochaco to turn to look at him, a little surprised. His eyes met hers, shining with subdued passion. "Don't let **anyone** convince you that you don't."

She had seen this passion on several occasions, and it had served as a continual source of inspiration for her. Looking at him now, she was struck by how Izuku could be so intense even in lower stakes situations. It was as if he felt the full range of human emotions at a deeper level than most people did, for better or worse. Some might have written him off as a crybaby or a hopeless idealist if they observed his behavior from a distance, but Ochaco knew better. She knew that Izuku's intense emotions were not only a crucial part of who he was, but a crucial part of what made him such an upstanding hero. They fueled his drive to be the best hero he can be, his heroic ideals, his compassion and empathy for others, and, above all, his determination to protect people no matter the cost to himself. It took a special kind of person to be willing to break their own bones to keep someone else safe, after all.

" _Just like the day we met..."_ she thought to herself, her cheeks growing more and more red the longer she looked back into his eyes. All of the feelings she'd been trying to push down were threatening to come back up to the surface, even stronger than they had been before the license exam.

"Deku..." she began, not quite sure how to respond as a question entered her mind. She had never considered asking it before. At least, she didn't think she had, but now that she was, it was hard not to think about it. She had no idea how he'd react. The others were right there looking at them, and they'd both badgered her about Izuku, so she knew they would freak out if she even tried asking. And yet, the urge to ask persisted, an urge which left her at the mercy of a tide of conflicting emotions. Her palms were becoming sweaty, her heart rate was accelerating out of control, and she could tell that her face was currently the same shade as a tomato. She did everything she could to steady herself, to remind herself of what she had sworn back at the exam, but all the same, Izuku was right there, looking into her eyes with the same passion that had made her fall for him in the first place. For several agonizing seconds, Ochaco's mind was fraught with turmoil, until at last, she came to a decision...

"Thank you," she said, smiling brightly at him.

A decision that a part of her instantly regretted.

* * *

Their meal passed by relatively quickly, carried along by similarly mundane topics of conversation. Eventually, the crowd in the arcade began to wane later in the afternoon, prompting Mina to encourage the others to get up and play. Aoyama and Izuku readily agreed to this, although Ochaco hesitated, having chewed on a couple things in her head over the course of the meal. When Izuku moved to join the others at the arcade, Ochaco made her decision.

"Hey, Deku?" she began, catching his attention. "Can we...talk, for a minute?"

Izuku was both surprised and a little relieved at the suggestion, having searched for a good time to bring up some questions of his own. "Sure," he said, before turning towards Mina and Aoyama. "We'll catch up with you guys." The two looked at each other for a split second, sharing a conspiratorial glance before nodding and heading off towards the arcade machines. Ochaco picked up on this detail, and groaned internally as she prepared for another round of teasing later. Izuku sat down next to her, not noticing a fairly short figure wearing a gray hoodie and long pants who sat down at the table behind the pair. Ochaco took a deep breath before she spoke.

"What's going on with your work study?" she asked, leaving Izuku in a tough position. Although he had anticipated her asking the question sooner or later, he had to carefully balance what he told her about what he was feeling with what he had to keep from her out of necessity. He didn't want to lie to her any more than he had to. After a couple seconds, he came up with something, chuckling awkwardly.

"If I had to sum it up, I'd say I'm pretty unqualified to be giving you advice," he said sheepishly, causing Ochaco to frown. The expression hurt Izuku a little. He never could get used to seeing or hearing Ochaco upset, especially when relating to him in some way.

"But you totally deserve to be there!" she replied. "I-I can't even begin to list off all the incredible things you've done! Even when you weren't able to use your Quirk properly, you could still keep up with everyone else! And now that you **can**..."

Izuku chuckled awkwardly once more. He was a fairly modest person by nature, although he had also been taught by his own experiences to downplay a lot of his successes. Hearing Ochaco heap praise upon him was enjoyable in its way, but a part of him couldn't help but feel like she was exaggerating for his benefit.

"The difference is...Nighteye didn't accept me based on my merit," he admitted, causing Ochaco to cock her head in confusion until he elaborated. "He asked me to take the stamp he'd use to sign my application from him, and...I failed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't overcome the advantage his Foresight Quirk gave him. I-If I'd been fast enough to move before he could react to his visions, or smart enough to come up with a way to thwart his Quirk, I probably could've done it. But...I wasn't." He paused as other nagging thoughts came to the surface. "I couldn't save Kacchan. I'm still not as strong as he is, even after I got better at using Full Cowling. And now...now the only reason I even have a work study is so Nighteye can show me all the ways I don't measure up. All the ways that I'm not good enough."

Ochaco looked at Izuku with a pained expression. "Deku, that's...that's **horrible**." As she thought on the subject more, sympathy and sadness gave way to righteous anger. "W-what makes him think he has the right to treat you like that?!" Izuku looked at her with concern as she began to assume an expression usually reserved for when she was about to punch something.

"U-Uraraka, are you going to try and fight my new boss?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm thinking about it!" she replied angrily, glaring as if the detestable pro hero was sitting right across from her. A part of Izuku was touched and almost amused, but his more cautious side won out.

"I-I would rather you not, please," he said timidly. Ochaco softened somewhat, a part of her amused as she looked at his expression. Izuku really was like a rabbit that had been transformed into a person sometimes. A cute, insanely strong little bunny rabbit.

"Alright, but if he keeps pulling crap like this, just say the word and I'll knock him out," she said, leaving Izuku relieved. He forgot just how intense she could be when something was really bothering her. Almost like a mellower version of Bakugo's unbridled rage. Or even just like looking at himself through a mirror. After a brief period of silence, Ochaco, having calmed down a little, added, "You know...I get that you want to prove him wrong, but if you're already feeling this bad..."

Izuku nodded. "I know. I just...I feel obligated to see it through, you know? I can't just back down."

Ochaco sighed. "Just...be careful, okay? If you become dead-set on proving something to someone who's already made up their mind about you, all you'll end up doing is hurting yourself."

Izuku and Ochaco looked at each other for a second, both of them surprised. "W-wow, that is...really good advice. Thank you," Izuku said.

"N-no problem," Ochaco replied, surprised that she had come up with something like that on the spot. For a while, neither of them said anything, until Ochaco spoke once more, moving to get up. "Well, I just wanted to make sure you were feeling alright. We should probably head over to-"

"Hey, uh, Uraraka?" Izuku interrupted, catching her off-guard. "Do you mind if I ask you something, too?"

Ochaco began to sweat slightly. She already had an idea of what he might ask her. Still, it seemed pointless to brush him off solely based on a hunch. "Uh, sure. What is it?" she asked, sitting back down. Izuku took a deep breath before explaining himself.

"Well...I don't know, maybe I'm just seeing things that aren't there, but...it seems like you've been avoiding me for a while now." Ochaco tensed up. It was exactly what she was afraid he'd ask. He continued, "That one time at the mall, you ran off without much of an explanation."

" _And then you got attacked by Shigaraki,"_ she thought to herself, wincing. She still nagged herself over that every so often.

"And ever since then, you always seemed a little reluctant to talk to me. Mina seemed to think you were distracted about something. Something that concerned me in some way."

Ochaco's eyes widened a bit. " _Oh, crap, what did she say? Has she been trying to lead you on?!"_ She huffed a bit, her irritation evident. She was going to have a little chat with Mina about this later.

"So, I just wanted to ask...what's going on?" He looked into her eyes, his own eyes reflecting his confusion as well as his concern for Ochaco's feeling. "D-did I do something to upset you?"

Ochaco was left in a quandary, one where her usual responses didn't seem like particularly viable solutions. She could try to come up with some excuse to get out of answering his question, but she knew he'd only dwell on it even more, wondering just what he was doing wrong. She couldn't do that to him. Similarly, continuing to hide her feelings under these conditions would mean she'd have to come up with some alternative explanation. She wasn't prepared to lie right to Izuku's face. The guilt would eat her up inside the longer she maintained the lie. To make matters worse, there was that weird flare up from before. She thought she'd been successful in pushing her feelings down, but evidently she was mistaken. Who knew how often that might happen?

No. She couldn't run from this anymore, both figuratively and literally, given that Izuku was sitting to her left. And she couldn't keep hiding anymore, not without lying to her best friend. What's more, if her lapse from earlier was any indication, hiding her feelings wasn't the best solution in the long run. What she needed now was to be completely honest with him. That way, she could relieve herself of the burden of keeping her feelings secret, while also reassuring Izuku that he wasn't at fault for her behavior. True, it would undoubtedly make things awkward between them, but, she reasoned, their relationship couldn't be as awkward as it eventually would be if her current pattern continued. Once she explained herself, once she was able to confirm that nothing would come of these fantasies she was entertaining in her mind, then the two of them could start to move on and focus on their dreams while continuing to remain close friends. Her decision made, she took a deep breath, and began to gather her thoughts, her silence up until that point only serving to worry Izuku more.

"Uh...Uraraka? Did I say something wrong?" At this, Ochaco smiled, only serving to confuse him more.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Deku," she began calmly. "I'm the one who should be apologizing to you. I haven't been handling this in a very mature way." When Izuku looked back at her, still confused, she elaborated. "It all started during the final exam. Me and Aoyama were in a pretty tough spot going up against Thirteen, and I was trying to think of a way out of it, when he...said something, something which made me really, really embarrassed. Afterwards, I just kept dwelling on it. I tried to convince myself that he was just seeing things that weren't there, but more and more people kept pointing it out. I started...feeling weird, whenever I was around you, and eventually...ugh, you know what? I'm just going to say it. I..." She hesitated for a second, plagued by a moment of doubt, before she took another deep breath and admitted it. "I like you, Deku."

The words, delivered as if she was expecting a long, dramatic pause, left Izuku bewildered for a second before he grasped their meaning, and suddenly found himself experiencing a whole host of different emotions. " _Wait, she-what?! She likes-what?! W-what's happening? Is, she, I, what, I don't, how-?!"_ As he did everything in his power to stay calm, she noticed the effect her words had had on him, and began to panic a little herself.

"Ah, I was worried this would happen! Deku, I know, it's weird, I'm sorry! I tried to deny it for so long, because I knew that it would just make things weird, and I don't want things to be weird between us! Y-you're the closest friend I've ever had! W-we both have been working so hard to become pro heroes, and I was scared that if I actually did have...feelings, for you, that acting on them would just make everything awkward and distract us from our goals. Becoming a hero is important to me, and-and I know that it's just as important to you, so...I did my best to set my feelings aside." She took a deep breath, as everything she had been keeping in started to spill out. "At first, I pretended I didn't have them, and then, when Mina and Toru and that crazy serial killer girl with the knife called me out on it, I tried to push my feelings down and focus on my studies. At this point, I know now that...neither of those things worked. All they did was make things awkward between us, the one thing I was trying not to do! And now...well. Here we are."

She glanced down at the table, not wanting to look Izuku in the eye, while Izuku was only just starting to somewhat calm down after the startling revelation. " _She...she likes me."_ For a second, it didn't quite...sound right. Like it was too good to be true. He had certainly pondered asking her out before, but any positive outcome of such a venture felt ludicrous. At first, he figured she'd simply stop talking to him. As he got to know her better, the next optimistic outcome was for her to awkwardly, yet politely say no, and for them to remain friends, always subject to this weird awkward tension that would take months to go away, if it ever did. Only until after finals had he even begun to entertain the notion that she actually liked him that way, and, indeed, he had chided himself for putting any stock into that particular theory at the time. And yet, he had to concede that this was actually happening. He wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn't quite come up with the words.

"Uraraka...I..." he began hesitantly, but all this seemed to do was make Ochaco sink deeper into herself.

"You don't have to say anything, Deku. I'm the one who screwed up here. It wasn't fair for me to keep this from you for so long, and it certainly wasn't fair that I made you think my own poor decisions were somehow your fault. So...I'm sorry." She paused for a second, unsure of herself. "I hope you can forgive me."

Izuku looked at her with a sad smile. He really did hate seeing her upset like this, and, although he was fairly apprehensive about it, he summoned the courage to reach a hand out towards her. When she didn't tense up when his hand brushed against her sleeve, he rested it on her shoulder, causing her to look towards him as he smiled back at her.

"Of course," he said, pausing for just a second. "You're my best friend too, after all."

Ochaco smiled. "Thanks," she said warmly, although for some reason Izuku felt like he had said something contrary to what she had been expecting. She sighed, as if she were annoyed with herself. "It was a stupid idea, anyway," she said, catching Izuku off guard. "I-I mean, even if you did...feel the same way, how would we even manage that? We both have work studies, not to mention schoolwork on top of that. Our work studies aren't even close to each other, and our agencies aren't likely to work together, so chances are, we'd barely have any free time to ourselves. We're bound to get even busier as our time at U.A. goes on, and by the time we're gone, we'll be full-time professional heroes. By that point...who knows what will happen to us?" She took a deep breath before coming to her conclusion. "In the end, I'm more than happy with what we have now." She paused again, before looking at Izuku and smiling at him hopefully. " ...Still friends?"

Izuku sat and listened to her go on the entire time, conflicted. He felt like he should say something to try and change her mind, but her mind seemed to be pretty made up. Admitting to her that he felt the same way was already a harrowing prospect, albeit far less so than it had been before, now that he knew where she stood. Nevertheless, although her analysis seemed logical, he still had to contend with the powerful urge to confess. " _M-Maybe...maybe if she knew-"_ he thought, before quickly dismissing it. She had already factored that into her analysis, and it didn't change her conclusion. Nor should it, really: everything she mentioned would still be a factor in any potential relationship. It would be difficult, maybe even impossible, to make things work well under those conditions. Of course, he would still want to try anyway, but in the end, it was her choice as well. And...she had already made hers clear, even if it wasn't the one he would have liked to hear. He looked at her, taking in every detail of her expression, hesitating for the briefest instant before smiling back at her in his usual chipper way.

"Still friends."

* * *

FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS I LAY DORMANT! BUT AT LAST, IT IS DONE!

Ohhh, holy **crap** , this took a long time! I am so sorry for how long this took, everyone! Between general burnout and a lack of ideas, and college not quite giving me the time (not to mention a whole other original side project I had going on that I'm hoping will get published in a student magazine), I wasn't sure this would ever get done. It's gone through a lot of revisions, but I think I've gotten it to a point that I'm generally happy with, and-even better-one where I can finish the story to my satisfaction within just a few more chapters! So, rejoice!

As always, I hope you guys enjoy reading this story, and don't hesitate to leave reviews, even if it's just saying that you really liked it! It helps a lot! Anyway, I'm not going to go on and on here, as I certainly can't give you a solid time for when the next chapter is coming out, particularly with some of the other fics I really ought to work on. I'm just going to say, thank you all for your patience and support, I hope you all have a fantastic night, and take care.


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